Best 2-Day Ancient Egypt and Old Cairo Highlights Tour

The visit to old Cairo, Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar, and GEM with Sam is a certainty. He accompanied us and explained everything with professionalism and friendliness; we recommend him to everyone!

Highlights: guides and representative in Cairo It’s fair to start by recognizing the best of the trip: guides Khaled Zain and George Adel are brilliant professionals, both with graduate degrees in Egyptology. Their knowledge, dedication and resolve were fundamental pillars of the experience. Along the same lines, Mohamed Taha Mohamed, representative in Cairo, demonstrated great commitment and efficiency in resolving the problems that others generated. Also worth mentioning is the team of drivers, especially in Cairo, where chaotic traffic requires considerable skill and patience. The Chateau Lafayette cruise ship: upgradeable is an aging vessel and somewhat neglected in its maintenance. The food is acceptable and the staff is attentive, but the overall condition of the boat does not live up to expectations. Fortunately, thanks to the management of the guide Khaled Zain — and not at the initiative of the representative, who again ignored the situation — we were transferred on the last day to the MS DWA, an excellent cruise ship where the experience improved markedly, also because of the warmth and professionalism of Meli, responsible for public relations of the cruise. Hilton Ramses: mixed results The hotel has a noticeable difference according to the assigned floor. From the 21st floor, this is a well-maintained four-star accommodation. The rooms on the lower floors, on the other hand, are visibly outdated and do not match the category of the property. Mohamed Taha Mohamed managed us room on the 21st floor with an amazing view. What failed: management and responsibility of the adviser and 2 of the representatives. Herein lies the main problem of travel. Representative Asmaa promised and reported conditions that were not met later — linked to the hotel reservation and the beverages included in the cruise. We can all make mistakes, but what is truly reprehensible is that, in the face of the claims, he chose to get rid of the problem without offering any solution. Representatives in Luxor (Daif Mohamed Saeed) and Aswan (Ali Hassan Ahmed Mohamed) followed the same pattern: neither took responsibility nor managed the inconveniences presented. Added to this was a unilateral change in the itinerary of the last day, rearranged to adapt the tour to Abu Simbel to the schedules of another couple. As compensation, included drinks were offered, but the representative communicated this concession to the ship hours late and, when changing vessels, it became invalid. The concrete result: two beers and two sodas as compensation for all the accumulated inconveniences, plus drinks from the last lunch in Cairo. Excellent the two Zeeyara restaurants one is pyramid friendly and the other in Cairo, both the setting and Egyptian food. Conclusion: Excellent guides Khaled Zain and George Adel are brilliant professionals. Also Mohamed Taha Mohamed, representative in Cairo. And Meli from MS DWA, all of them made the experience exceptional. But if the experience depended solely on Asmaa and representatives of Luxor and Aswan, I would not recommend Memphis Tours under any circumstances. Memphis Tours has top-notch human resources; the problem is who manages the contingencies and how they respond when things don’t go well.